Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, data, etc. These systems may be multiple access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available resources (e.g. bandwidth and transmitted power).
Network priority is a way to obtain network bandwidth management and control for data, video and voice traffic. This kind of management is termed Quality of Service (QoS) and is controlled using policy-based network processes. Quality of Service comprises requirements on all the aspects of a connection, such as service response time, loss, signal-to-noise ratio, cross-talk, echo, interrupts, frequency response, loudness levels, and so on. In policy-based networking for an Internet Protocol (IP)-based network, a policy refers to a formal set of statements that define the manner of controlling and processing communications and resource allocation among its clients, i.e. users of the IP network. In policy-based networking, the administrator uses policy statements in order to define a particular level of priority and processing of communications for each of the kinds of services according to defined parameters.
In general, policies may be characterized by specification of rules and expected enforcement of the rules by various entities in the network. The rules may be statically configured or dynamically updated; specified by end users, network operators, or service providers; and may be considered as guidelines or mandates depending on particular policy enforcement requirements.
Once a subscriber is connected to the network, conventional mobile cellular networks comprise a Policy Control and Charging (PCC) functionality that identifies packets that are sent or received and performs actions based on such a set of rules defined in the policy (e.g., deliver the packet, discard the packet, apply charging). The PCC is formed by the Policy Control Enforcement Function (PCEF) and the Policy Control Resource Function (PCRF). The PCC needs to be dynamic because it needs to react to the different applications that a subscriber is using. For example, a successful establishment of a Voice over IP (VoIP) call will require the mobile network's IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) to instruct the PCC in order to allow delivery of packets belonging to the VoIP call. This is limiting because a mobile service provider may not have access to a specific application server (e.g. IMS) while wanting to apply policy rules to the respective service (e.g. VoIP calls). Furthermore, other applications that could benefit from policy functionality will not implement IMS functionality and will not exchange information with the PCC functionality in the mobile network. One example is video (e.g. IPTV, Youtube) where the video server is typically unable to interact with the PCC. This prevents an operator from prioritizing and giving dedicated radio bandwidth to any of these services.